Nail holder



S P 1951 T. F. O'MALLEY 2,568,405

NAIL HOLDER Filed Oct. 24, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR lhomaslf OJllalley ATTORNEY S Sept. 18, 1951 T. O'MALLEY NAIL HOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 24, 1946 INVENTOR Thamasf, OMalley 4 M,M-/'

ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 18, 1951 UN ITED S TAT E S PATENT OFF-ICE 2,568,405 NAIL Hot-DER v I Thomas .E..0Malley', Pittsburgh, Pa.

Applicationflctober 24, 1946, Serial No. 705,395

I V (emu-133) :I'Claim.

This invention is for a holder for holding :assorted nails, screws .or. the like and hasyfor its :object .to provide .a holder .or rcarrier "which is particularly useful .and .convenient bolthras .an

original package .in which :assonted nails for other fasteners may be sold .to the purchaser, .espec'ially for limited or household .use, zand ias a convenient holder or :carrier .fromrrwhich lth nails-:are :individually removed, as needed.

While being intended to provide a holder especially designed for the convenience of the householder and other small users of nails, the invention provides a device applicable and useful in many places and for divers purposes.

My invention may be readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a nail holder embodying my invention with the support extended;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation with the support folded and the cover in place;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section in the plane of line IIIIII of Fig. 4, the cover being removed;-

Fig. 4 is a top plan View of the device as shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section in the plane of line V-V of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through a single pocket or well with the holder inclined for use; and

Fig. 7 is a similar view with the top of the holder horizontal.

While I have shown and shall specifically describe one preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is by way of illustration and that various changes and modifications may be made therein.

In the drawings, 2 designates a wedge-shaped body of wood, plastic, aluminum or other substance, and wood may be considered as preferable. It is provided with one or more rows of holes therein, three rows being shown, although two are normally adequate. The individual holes are designated 3. They extend from the fiat top face 4 of the block through toward the tapered face, so that, as shown in Fig. 3, they are of decreasing size or depth. 0n the bottom face of the block or body 2 is a fixed closure plate 5, so that each hole constitutes a well open at its top and closed at the bottom.

On the top flat surface of the body there is a Slight lope, declivi y, or depression 4a leading into each well or pocket, these notches extendin from the periphery of the pocket toward the narrow end of the .body. Only the shallowest pockets .at the narrow ends do not have these depressions.

Intermediate its ends the body has a segment- .shaped depression 6 in each side wall. A U -shaped stiff wire stand I having an eye 8 at the top of each upstanding leg is provided, this eye being ailed or otherwise secured to the body .at the narrow end of the segment, as best shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. The segment-like recesses limit the swinging movement of the stand in one direction so that it may remain in an upright position, but enable it to be folded from the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2 to the full line position. A transverse groove 9 in the bottom plate receives the cross bar of the stand when it is collapsed.

The side faces of the body have longitudinally extending grooves I0 therein below the top edge thereof. These are for slidably receiving inturned edges or flanges H on a metal cover I2, which when it is in place fits close against the top of the body.

The taper of the wedge-shaped body is preferably such that the holes along each edge of the body increase in the same increments or multiples of increments as standard nails, so that the deepest well may take, for example, 16-penny nails, the next 12-penny, 8-penny, etc., while the shallowest pocket may have miscellaneous tacks or brads. The two edge rows of holes provide one series of holes for regular nails and one row for finishing nails, while the central row, in which the holes are ofiset from the ones at the sides and hence are of intermediate depths, may be used for intermediate sizes of nails or for screws or bolts.

The arrangement is such that when the holder is set on a flat surface with the supporting stand extended, the bottoms of the wells slope toward the narrow end of the body so that the heads of the nails tend to move out, as indicated in Fig. 6, making them more easily accessible, but when the body is turned to the position shown in Fig. 3, the nails slide in the reverse direction toward the deeper side of the well, retracting the heads of the nails so that they clear the top when it is slid into place. This is shown in Fig. '7. Conveniently the wedge-shaped body is a right angle triangle and the holes or wells are normal to the face or side which gives the hypotenuse at the narrow end of the wedge.

The holder as thus constructed provides a convenient and useful carrier or package for an assortment of nails of different sizes and kinds,

and is especially useful for householders who generally require only a few nails but of different sizes, although it is convenient for various trades and artesans.

It may be cheaply constructed from odd pieces of lumber or lumber mill scrap and may be inexpensive but attractive. As above indicated, various changes and departures may be made from the specific construction shown. Also, while intended especially for nails, it may be used for other fasteners.

I claim:

A holder for nails and the like, comprising: a main body member having an elongated bottom surface, an upper surface, a back surface, and two side surfaces, the upper surface extending at an acute angle to the bottom surface at one end thereof, the back surface extending at an acute angle to the bottom surface at the other end thereof and meeting the upper surface at a right angle, the side surfaces being at right angles to the other surfaces and being parallel and substantially spaced from each other, pockets of circular cross-section extending at right angles to the upper surface through the main body member from said upper surface to within a short distance of the bottom surface, the bottoms of said pockets being plane and being parallel to the bottom sur face, and a U-shaped prop member having its ends pivotally attached generally centrally of the side surfaces, said prop member being movable from a position where it supports the body member so that the bottom surface is at a right angle to the horizontal to a position where the said bottom surface is horizontal.

THOMAS F. OMALLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 135,894 Dearing Feb. 8, 1873 266,379 Masters Oct. 24, 1882 270,687 Norris Jan. 16, 1883 392,038 Kraatz Oct. 30, 1888 563,369 George July 7, 1896 914,421 Jones Mar. 9, 1909 994,893 Voye June 13, 1911 1,104,650 Fries July 21, 1914 1,362,012 Koranek Dec. 14, 1920 1,956,115 Brennan Apr. 24, 1934 1,978,290 Arthur Oct. 23. 1934 2,179,231 Moore Nov. 7, 1939 2,225,376 Morton, Jr. Dec. 17, 1940 

